


The Other Twin

by SonnyGoten



Category: CLAMP - Works, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Babylon, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, X -エックス- | X/1999, xxxHoLic
Genre: And Kamui tries to get his twin back, Apocalypse, Bad Ending, Breaking Taboos, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Causality, Criticism, Determinism, Dramatic Irony, Eriol Hiiragizawa is Fei Wong Reed, Gen, Hitsuzen, Holding Hands, Inevitability, Irony, Kidnapping, M/M, Meeting in dreams, Parody, Philosophy, Realm Hopping, Seishiro kidnaps Subaru, Time Loop, Time Travel, Traveling through Dreams, Watanuki Kimihiro is Clow Reed, Why CLAMP screws us fans over, sadame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 23:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8554684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonnyGoten/pseuds/SonnyGoten
Summary: When Seishiro kidnaps Subaru, Kamui travels across the worlds to find him back. But when secret wishes are revealed and twin star destinies exposed, can Subaru and Kamui still remain twins?





	1. Separation

**Author's Note:**

> This story was first posted on FanFiction.net, but I thought it might be nice to share it here.
> 
> I might change the chapter division a bit from what it was at FF.net. It should make for a better flow, but I promise it won't affect the content of the story overall.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui is separated from his twin, Subaru.

"Subaru!" He cried out to the other.

In the distance, carried over by a magical storm created by the hunter Seishiro, he heard the voice of his twin brother calling out his name.

" _Kamui…"_

"Subaru! Please, don't leave me!" he yelled while running towards the sound of that voice.

" _I'm sorry… I can't be your brother anymore…"_

"What do you mean?!" Kamui quickly pulled his arms up to protect himself as he rushed into the all consuming storm. Red lightning flashes twirled around him, blinding him for a moment.

" _That girl is waiting for me, Kamui… and your true twin is also waiting for you."_

"My… true twin?" Kamui shook his head vehemently. "Only you are my brother, Subaru! And only I am yours!"

He caught sight of his brother at the center of the great storm and reached out to him. Step by step, he neared him. "Please…" he begged. "Please Subaru, you're the only one for me."

His arm was caught by someone and he quickly spun around to deliver his captor a swift kick, but that blow was blocked by a hand that caught his ankle. "The vampire Subaru is mine," his captor Seishiro said, "mine to deliver to that girl."

Kamui raised himself up to kick Seishiro with his other leg, but before that could happen he was swung around and then thrown right into a flash of red lightning. He cried out in pain when he felt a thousand needles piercing into his skin as he was being electrocuted, but then the surroundings around him slowly faded to become… what?

He knew this, he had been here before, on these trans-dimensional roads.

Looking above him he saw Seishiro, who was holding his brother Subaru in his arms, and then those two disappeared into a flash of light; gone… how far away must they be now? Would he ever see Subaru again?

With a shock, he was thrown left, and then he fell… fell… and fell…

A hard solid floor met him when he landed into another dimension. Where was he? He did not know. His head felt dizzy and the sky was too bright, hurting his eyes. Slowly but surely, his world was invaded by darkness… yet, one thought lingered around.

"That… girl?"


	2. The Card Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui meets Sakura Kinomoto and has a meaningful Dream.

Kamui groaned when his consciousness slowly resurfaced. Where was he?

Something small was flying in the room. "Sakura!" it yelled, "the boy's up!"

A loud crash, and then Kamui heard footsteps tumbling up the stairs. Breathing out a sigh, he sat up on the bed he had been laid on, and looked around the room, finding a lot of pink girly things scattered across the room.

"Toys?" he muttered. Perhaps a child had found him and taken him home? But no, there were several sources of magical energy present. Look up, he suddenly found something flying into his face.

"Hello there!" a stuffed animal-like creature with wings said to him. "We found you unconscious on the road so we took you in. How are you?"

Kamui blinked. "You live?" Then again, the thing did give off waves of magic.

Suddenly, the creature seemed to be offended. "Of course I live, damn you!" it snarled at him. "What else did you think, you vampire!"

"Keroberos, be quiet," a young man with long white hair chided, as he walked into the room. Behind him someone was shaking. Turning back, the man pulled an obviously unwilling little girl into the room.

Kamui blinked. He had seen that girl before… "Sakura?" he asked.

The girl froze up.

Certain now that she was the same girl who had been locked inside that water tank in Tokyo, he got off the bed and walked over to her. Immediately, the stuffed toy called Keroberos transformed into a huge beast and roared at him, standing in a defensive position before the little girl.

"How do you know about Sakura, vampire?" it growled.

Kamui stared at the creature. "I've seen her before,' he replied calmly. "She was with that boy, Syaoran."

The girl hid behind the white haired man. "I'm afraid of vampires, Yue," she whimpered, but the man pulled her in front of him again.

"You are now the master of your Sakura cards," he said to her. "you are more powerful than Clow Reed now. No vampire can do harm to you."

"B-but-!"

"I will not harm you, Sakura," Kamui said at last to calm the girl down.

Observing the girl had brought him to the conclusion that she was not the same Sakura he had met; this Sakura was still a little child, whereas the Sakura he had met was already a blossoming young girl. He knew for a fact that there might be more people out there who shared the same soul as those he had met, but were different people altogether, which gave him all the more reason to be cautious.

"You may not know me, little girl," Kamui continued, "but I know someone who looks very similar to you and shares your name."

"Ah!" The girl suddenly seemed to brighten. "I know her!" she said. "I gave her my star wand! In a dream!"

"Is that so?" Kamui observed the little girl for a moment. "And how did you meet her in that dream?"

"I used my cards," she said proudly to him. "I'm the master of my Sakura cards after all."

Sakura cards? A little frown crossed Kamui's features. What were they? That man - no, not a man, he was no man, he was a magical creature - Yue had mentioned them as well. "May I see those cards?" Kamui asked.

"Uhm… well…" the girl hesitated for a moment.

"Please…" said Kamui, "my brother has been taken away from me, and you might be the only one to help me."

Hearing him mention a brother, the girl immediately dropped her hesitance. "I… I'll do what I can," she said. "I have a brother too, and I would never want for him to be taken away from me!"

"Thank you, Sakura."

Kamui felt thankful to the little Sakura. She could have refused aid, especially since she knew that he was a dangerous vampire, yet she opted to help him out. Like that other Sakura, this girl had a strong heart, growing in the right place.

The little girl went to her desk and opened a drawer. Rummaging inside for a moment, her eyes lit up as she pulled out a strange-looking book. "Look," she said, "this book was Clow's. Once upon a time, these cards inside this book were Clow cards."

She opened the book and showed Kamui the contents inside. Though, Kamui's face remained impassive, he was boiling with excitement inside. He was impressed by the enormous source of magic coming from these cards. If little Sakura controlled them, then surely she must be one of the greatest sorceress in existence in this dimension - or perhaps even in _all_ dimensions.

"It hasn't been very long ago that I placed my own mark upon them and transformed them into Sakura cards," Sakura said. "I can still command the cards, thought it's much more difficult without the Star Wand. Because of that, I think I'll only be able to control one card at a time."

"What can these cards do?" asked Kamui curiously.

"They are creatures that live through Sakura's magic," Yue answered as he picked up a card. "Each card has a name that tells you of its ability. This one here," he showed Kamui the card, "is named Watery; she controls all water elements. Sakura feeds her magic into these cards and in return they perform their purpose."

"I see," said Kamui, "may I have a look at them?"

Nodding, little Sakura handed him the book. He took out the cards and he started shuffling through them, one by one. Most of the cards seemed silly - even worthless - in his adult mind, but he was sure that for a child a card like Sweet would have some sort of purpose. Maybe the girl had a sweet tooth? Besides, these cards actually lived, so perhaps they served to be friends for the girl?

There was only one card that actually caught Kamui's eyes. _Return_. He wished fervently that Subaru would return to him. Picking that card out of the group, Kamui showed it to Sakura. "Can this make anything return to you?" he asked.

"No." It was Keroberos who spoke up. As he was feeling no threat from Kamui, he reverted back to his small form. "The word 'return' is not explained that way," he elaborated, "This card allows one to return time. It allows you to go back to the past, but it does not return anything to you."

This revelation confused Kamui. "If Return allows one to go back in time then what does Time do?" he asked and he picked out that card.

"Time can freely control the flow of time. It can, for example, stop time, but the day it had made its presence known, it was repeating the day over and over again. The card had in essence created a loop in time."

"Then what about Loop?" Kamui shuffled through the cards again and picked out another.

"Oh, this one creates loops, not in time, but in space."

Kamui frowned. The cards seemed useful, but could they help him get Subaru back?

Loop could manipulate space, but he figured that he would need Subaru's location in order to create a loop in space that could lead him to his twin. And besides, he still did not have the strength to beat Seishiro in a fight. Time was probably too risky to use… messing with the flow of time could, as Keroberos said, lead to a never ending loop. While little Sakura had obviously managed to break through her loop of time, it had only been a small one that took merely a day. If the loop lasted for decades… Kamui did not want to take that responsibility. Then Return would be better. He could go back into time and save Subaru. But that wasn't right… he could not return to the future once he had performed his task. There would be two Kamui in the past and none in the future; in essence, he would be wiping himself out.

"Should I use Dream?" Sakura asked and she picked out a card from the stack.

Kamui peered at the card, before giving the girl a slightly confused look. "Dream? How can that lead me to my brother?" he asked.

"Well," said Sakura, "Dream can inspire you with visions while you sleep. Maybe it can help you save your brother."

Kamui frowned, but he nodded anyway. "I'll give it a try," he said. He decided that he had no more ideas to get to Subaru, so a vision might help him.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Sakura chirped. She threw up the card and lifted her arms up with the palms of her hand facing the ceiling. The card kept floating above her as a magical circle appeared underneath her.

"I, Sakura Kinomoto, command you, come forth Dream!"

In that moment, Kamui fell into the depths of darkness.

Where was he? Where were the girl and the two magical creatures? The cards?

_You have a wish…?_

He snapped his head around, but there was no one.

_Come to me… use the Loop card and come to me, for I shall grant you your wish…_

Did he have a wish? Yes, he wished for Subaru to come back to him, but he could not do that by himself - he needed help, someone who could grant him his wish.

There was only one person who could grant wishes… the dimensional witch.


	3. The Dimensional Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui meets the Dimensional Witch and the journey begins...

With a shock Kamui awoke from the darkness. "Loop!" he gasped as he fumbled to sit up. "It's Loop!"

"What do I have to do with Loop?" he heard beside him

Kamui blinked, still disorientated from sleep. "Uhm… wha? Pink?" he said confused. Where was he? He rubbed at his eyes to clear them and turned towards the voice that had just spoken. "Oh, little Sakura!" he exclaimed, remembering where he was again. "Oh, yes, the Loop card! I dreamt about a voice, which was telling me to use Loop. You have to loop me to the Dimensional Witch."

"W-witch?"

"Yes." Sensing that something was wrong, Kamui lifted a brow. "Is there something I should know?" he asked, when he saw the crestfallen look on the little girl's face.

"Y-yuuko…" the Sakura whimpered, "Ms. Yuuko… she died…"

"What? But that's…" The last time Kamui had heard about the Witch, she was still there, healthy and alive. How could she be gone now? "How did that happen?"

Sniffling, Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "We don't really know, but I think it has to do with why I gave my Star Wand to the one who looked like an older me in that dream. I have been having dreams lately; they're very vague, but I know something important is about to happen."

Kamui frowned. He too had known something big was happening at the moment. But what?

"Sakura, could you still loop me to the Witch's lair?" Kamui asked. "The Dimensional Witch may be gone, but I've still been bequeathed that dream through your Dream card. We should not waste its hard efforts to help me."

He didn't like what was going on; it seemed suspicious that the Witch had died, even though he had been told by that vision, through the influence of the Dream card, that he was to go to her. However, if he had been given this vision, then there was a purpose to it. Everything happened for a purpose after all - that had been the Witch's favourite motto.

Sakura nodded. "Alright, I'll take you to her shop." She took out the Loop card from her stack and held it up. "Are you ready?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Yes," he said and got up from her bed.

Sakura threw up her card, and swung her arms into the air, the palms of her hands facing the ceiling. "I, Sakura Kinomoto, command you, come forth Loop!"

A strange looking creature emerged from the card and made a small noise.

"Loop! please, loop my home to that of Yuuko's wish shop! My friend needs to go there, it's very important."

The creature made that same strange noise again, then swirled around in the room. The entire space became blurry for a while, and then, suddenly, there was the front door of Yuuko's shop. And at the entrance stood a boy with glasses, wearing an elaborate robe that had once been Yuuko's, smoking a pipe which had also once been Yuuko's.

"Welcome…" the boy said. "I am the successor to the Dimensional Witch Yuuko."

Sakura stared at the boy before her and frowned. "You… you look like-"

She was quickly cut off by Yue and Keroberos, who both at the same time yelled, "CLOW!"

The boy took off his glasses and revealed his mismatched eyes. "Once I was known under a different name, but from this moment I am Clow Reed," he said. "And you are Sakura, but you are not the same Sakura as the one I met before."

"Clow!" Yue exclaimed, "How…! But you died a long time ago! You are reborn as Eriol, aren't you?"

The boy blinked for a moment, as if not understanding, but then he sighed. "I see. Since _her_ death, everything has started to move again, has it not? She told me that the time-space continuum has started to collapse. And if _they_ do not succeed in defeating _him_ , reality will soon be no more."

Kamui frowned. "Her? They? Him? That do you mean?"

"Yuuko… she told me this before _her_ death. _They_ are the once you have met before and will soon meet again. And _he_ is the one who is the true cause of your grief."

"But…" said Keroberos, "you still haven't told me why _you_ are here!"

The boy gave him an impassive look. "I know you not, yet you know me. How peculiar. Perhaps you are one of those creatures whom I will create in the future?"

"F-future?" Keroberos stuttered. "B-but… what?"

"Like I said, the time-space continuum is collapsing at this very moment. Because of that the flow of time is not like a single river anymore; the past, present and future are overlapping and blurring each other at this very moment, which is why you are able to come to this shop with Loop in the first place. In your time, my shop should not be existing anymore and I should be dead."

"Then," said Yue, "you are the Clow from the past?"

"The past for you, yes," the boy said. "The people here still know me under my real name, however." he turned his attention to Sakura. "It is best if you should stop this loop now. The reason why reality is falling apart in the first place, is because of the people who broke the natural laws of the universe."

"Uhm…" Sakura hesitated. "W-will I see you again?" she stuttered.

The boy smiled. "If we are fated to meet, then we will meet," he responded.

Sakura nodded and then smiled. "Goodbye, Mr. Clow!" she called out and she waved. Keroberos waved too, and Yue simply looked at Clow, his eyes shimmering with tears.

"Farewell Sakura… my two future creations…" the boy said. " until we meet again."

Behind Kamui the girl and two magical creatures slowly blurred together with the pink room until they faded away. "Thank you, Sakura," Kamui whispered. He wasn't sure if she had heard him. Looking up, he stared into the mismatched eye of the boy again.

"You did not belong in that future with that girl," the boy said. "I have seen you before."

"As I have you… Watanuki, isn't it?" Kamui replied.

"Ah, so you still remember me?" the boy with mismatched eyes stated.

"Yes," Kamui replied. "I saw you working in the shop of the Dimensional Witch through the link provided by the Mokonas. I did not expect you to become her heir."

"Neither did I." Remembering his former employer and friend, Watanuki sighed. "It's only temporarily, though," he continued, "I'm still waiting for Yuuko to return to this shop."

"She will not return," Kamui pointed out, "she is dead."

"She is, yes," Watanuki acknowledged. "However, the past, present and future are blurring at this very moment. I believe I will meet her once more." There was a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes as he spoke, one that had not been present in his dull gaze before.

Kamui did not like where the other boy's train of thoughts were going. "You wish to meet her, despite the consequences? You were talking about the penalty of messing with nature's laws before… you _know_ what will happen to reality if you try to bend it."

"Reality is already bend," Watanuki argued. "And besides… some things are inevitable."

'What do you mean?" Kamui demanded.

"For Yuuko and I to have met, even though she was supposed to be dead before my birth… Yuuko told me that a powerful wizard unknowingly stopped her time because he desired for her to live on. I did not understand it when she first told me, but I understand it now; I was that wizard - the great Clow Reed, who stopped time itself to prevent Yuuko from disappearing."

Kamui narrowed his eyes sceptically at this explanation. "So… it was predetermined?" he asked.

"Yes," Watanuki confirmed. "If the past does not happen, the future will not come. That's why everything is predetermined… that's why all is inevitable."

"But you said that the wizard _unknowingly_ stopped time; yet, you _know_ what will happen."

"Ah yes," Watanuki said. "I don't know how to justify this… I can only blame the time paradox for this to happen. _They_ also have this same experience. Knowing what was to happen, yet they shouldn't have known…"

"They?" Kamui reiterated.

"Yes, 'they'. I will send you to them now, as you requested in your wish."

"But I have not even voiced my wish yet!" Kamui protested.

"You wish to seek your brother, not?" Watanuki cut in. "This can only be possible, if you have the ability to travel through dimensions. You must therefore join those who went before you."

"B-but… Who? What? A-and my price?" Kamui felt as though his head were spinning. Everything was happening in such a rush!

"You will meet your companions and know who they are. As for you price… it has been received already."

Kamui looked dumbfounded. "Who… paid?"

"He will tell you, if he wishes to do so," Watanuki answered cryptically.

It seemed to Kamui that Watanuki had taken on more of Yuuko's habits than was necessary. He wore her clothes, smoked her pipe, and even gave his customers those obscure messages like her. The boy must be missing the former Dimensional Witch very much…

Probably just as much as I miss Subaru, Kamui mused.

"I will send you off now," Watanuki said.

A magical circle formed around Kamui and then he disappeared… off to another dimension.

"Good luck, Kamui…" Watanuki whispered. "May you uncover the answers to all your inner questions."

A tall young man came up behind him. "Oi," the man said, "Get back inside, or you'll catch a cold."

Watanuki smirked. "To an unborn chick, the walls of the egg are like walls signifying the outer limit of the entire world. Are we that chick trapped inside your egg, Doumeki? And if we are, will you ever decide to release us?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Hn…" he murmured, and then, "I want to eat umeboshi tonight."


	4. Infinity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui meets the fellowship at Infinity.

It didn't take long for Kamui to reach his destination. Or maybe it did. With the flow of time being out of order, there was no way to tell - minutes could become ages, and a blink of the eye for one could be a lifetime for another. But all that did not matter to Kamui, right now, all that mattered was that he had landed safely on his butt.

"Kindly remove your body from me," a deep voice below him growled out.

Kamui blinked an looked down. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to land on you, but travelling through dimensions causes me to lose my orientation. Thank you for breaking my fall though, Kurogane." He got off of the tall man dressed as a ninja, who mumbled curses and death threats underneath his breath.

"Kamui!" A white bun-like rabbit-creature jumped upon his head. "You're the Kamui from Tokyo, where the rain is acidic, aren't you?"

A faint smile crossed Kamui's lips. "Yes, Mokona, I am." He looked at each of the members of the group that he had crashed into during his fall from the sky. Someone needed to invent smoother transport for dimensional travellers.

"Why did you come here?" This time the young boy spoke up and Kamui turned to him. "I thought you were travelling with your brother."

Hearing the boy speak about Subaru, Kamui's expression darkened. He was still upset that he had let Seishiro take his brother away from him, so he did not like to talk about it. But if he was going to travel with these people, then Kamui believed that they had a right to know; they could help him get Subaru back, after all. "It's for Subaru that I'm here, Syaoran," Kamui replied.

"How so?" a soft voice asked.

Kamui turned to look at the only girl of the group. "He's kidnapped, Sakura," Kamui said. "Seishiro managed to take him away from me."

"So then," the ninja Kurogane spoke up again, "what's that got to do with us?"

"He wishes to travel with us…" Finally, the last of the group, a lean blond man who looked like he was at the prime of his life, spoke up. "Seishiro knows how to travel through dimensions, so I assume that he took Subaru to another world. For Kamui here to find his brother, he must, like us, be able to travel through dimensions as well. If the twins had remained together, crossing dimensions would not have been a problem to them, as that was their means to run from the Seishiro. However, Kamui alone does not have the ability to accomplish it on his own, so he needs Mokona."

Kamui nodded. That was exactly how it was. "Someone has paid my price to the Dimensional Witch, so I should be able to come along with you all, if you will allow me to."

"But we are here to find the feathers, we have no time to also look for his brother," Kurogane argued.

He was about to dismiss the vampire, when Syaoran spoke up. "We all have alternative goals, but the means to reach that goal is the same," he said. "If Yuuko says that Kamui's price has been paid, then I think he has an equal right to travel with us."

Kurogane snorted and crossed his arms.

"Fai?" Syaoran looked at the blond for support, but the mage turned away his head and remained silent. Syaoran could only guess that Fai still had not forgiven both Kurogane and Kamui for turning him into a vampire.

"Mokona thinks Syaoran is right!" the white bun-rabbit said. "Kurogane wants to return to his own world, and Fai never wants to return to his own world, while Syaoran wishes to find all of Sakura's feathers. But all three of them travel together with Mokona! Kamui can also travel with Mokona and help Syaoran find feathers too, while he searches for Subaru!"

Syaoran gave Mokena a slight smile, mouthing a 'thank you' to the little creature. He glances at his other companions, silently asking for their support, but they remained passively silent. Syaoran sighed deeply, but decided to plough on. "Kamui, if you travel with us, you must help us find princess Sakura's feathers. Will you do that?"

"Of course." Kamui nodded. He understood that he was to contribute to the group if he was to stay with them. "Can any of you tell me in which world we are?"

"This world is called Infinity," Sakura answered Kamui's question. "Here, we fight in the tournament to obtain the price."

"Which is the feather?" Kamui asked. "Then I'll fight alongside you, I can help -"

"That's not possible," Syaoran interrupted him, explaining, "we already entered the tournament and this is the final battle; you cannot enter anymore." He gave Kamui a small smile. "It's alright, we will certainly win."

Kamui looked at the boy and saw the utmost determination in his eyes. It was the same determination that the other Syaoran had shown back when they had met in Acid Tokyo, but this Syaoran before had not lost his heart yet as the other did.

"If I cannot enter," Kamui said, "then is there anyway in which I can help?"

"You will watch Mokona," Sakura told him. "And you will pray… for the _future_."

Kamui looked at her and once again he noticed the drastic change she had undergone since she woke up and saw the other Syaoran leave. She had the eyes of a mature woman, despite that her age was that of a girl in her early teens. She was definitely a different person than Sakura, the Card Master, even if they shared the same soul.

Kamui nodded. "I will do as I can," he said and he watched the group leave for the tournament as the white bun-creature Mokona jumped on his head.

"Let's wait for them," Mokona said, "Everything will be alright. I know that they can win."

And so Kamui waited…

…waited…

…and waited…

…until he heard an ear-piercing scream of insanity rip through the entire of Infinity.

"Fai!" Mokona cried out. "That's him! What happened!?"

Kamui grabbed the little creature and ran with speed, faster than a human's eye could see, into the direction of the scream, where the tournament should be in full motion.

_What was going on?_

Kamui remembered distinctly that the mage had an incredible magical strength. Even if that strength was halved due to the loss of one eye, he still had an enormous amount of power left. And he also had the vampire blood flooding within him. Fai could not possibly be harmed…

Kamui arrived just in time to see a horrible scene displayed in front of him: Fai piercing Sakura's frail body with a bloody sword.

"SAKURA!" Mokona screamed. The creature tried to struggle out of Kamui's grasp, but Kamui held it firmly in place. There were greater powers playing here, he could sense it, and he would not let the little Mokona harm itself. Kamui watched as Fai pulled the sword out of Sakura's body, still raving like a madman, but then the blond hitched with his breath caught in his throat. It seemed as if the mage was staring at a ghost, or something of the likes, his eyes were focused on something immaterial. At the same time as Kamui noticed this, he could feel that Sakura's spirit had left her body.

_Is she dead?_

Kamui could sense the trans-dimensional paths opening up, connecting two - _or maybe three…?_ \- different worlds together. He could definitely sense the first world that was connecting to Infinity, but the other… maybe that world was not of the material kind? A spiritual world? Regardless of that, Kamui realized that before he even had the chance to travel with the group, one of its members was already gone. The body of Sakura was transported to the first world, the physical one; and a spiritual presence, which Kamui supposed was Sakura's soul, left for that other non-material world.

"No… Sakura…" Mokona whimpered in his arms.

But the danger seemed to be gone now, and so Kamui felt that it was safe to step out of the shadows. He did not think it wise for him to say anything, so he remained silent. Just letting the others know that he and Mokona had seen everything was enough. Fai slumped and sagged together on the ground.

The men, carrying the mage, left the battle arena in silence.

Upon returning to the quarters where the group was temporarily staying, a person that was not supposed to be able to contact them, did just that. From the red jewel on top of Mokona's head, a bright light glowed and then a familiar face showed itself. "The princess is inside here," a female voice said.

"Yuuko!" Mokona exclaimed. Kamui stared at the woman with wide eyes.

The woman was not dead… Kamui had not travelled through time, yet he had landed in the past.

He distinctly remembered Watanuki speaking of the past, present and future. The laws of reality were blurring, and soon reality would crumble and all that was would be no more. Judging by his meeting Yuuko, Kamui figured that reality was already starting to fall apart. But there was something even more important that he remembered - Watanuki was right.

 _Watanuki,_ _you will meet Yuuko again, won't you?_

The look in Kamui's eyes softened slightly as he thought of this.

_Because everything happens for a reason and all is inevitable._

"Princess Sakura's soul is currently inside a dream," Kamui heard Yuuko say. The woman held up something that looked very much like a tube, but was in fact the dream-dimension. "This is what she wished for."

 _A wish…_ Kamui looked at his companions. _Everyone here has a wish… and the Witch… Yuuko and Watanuki… they both grant them._

His wish was to find his twin Subaru. If Sakura's wish could be granted, then surely Kamui's wish could be granted as well, couldn't it? Suddenly, Kamui knew for certain within his heart that he would meet Subaru once more. Yuuko or Watanuki, it didn't matter, Kamui trusted the Witch's abilities.

Meeting Subaru was inevitable.

 


	5. Celes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui notes that he has made no payment for Celes, but is allowed to follow along with the fellowship regardless.  
> He learns on his journey some secrets concerning the meaning of 'a true twin'.  
> In the end, he realizes he is not destined to be part of Syaoran's group and quietly parts ways with them.

"I have a request…"

Kamui looked up to see that the conversation had moved on again. He stared at Fai, who had stood up from the bed he had been lain on, wondering what kind of request the blond vampire-mage had.

"There is a price," Yuuko warned, but Fai looked like was ready to fork over whatever was required.

"My right eye," he said without hesitation. "Make all that this eye can see the price."

"With that price," Yuuko looked at the mage intently, "what is that you wish?"

Kamui's eyes darted back to Fai, who stood there confidently as he answered: "To return to Celes."

"No way! If Fai did such a thing, he'd end up unable to see anything!" Mokona protested vehemently.

"But…" said Fai, "that's about all I can pay…" A big whack followed that assertion, startling Kamui. Did the ninja just hit the magician, or were his eyes fooling him?

"I told you I'd hit you, didn't I?" Kurogane growled, pulling his fist back. He placed his hands upon his hips and continued, "Why would only you have to pay the price? If the princess's body is in that Celes-or-something country, then it's not just you that is going, is it?"

Price.

That single word, brought Kamui back to despair. Someone had paid for his ticket onto the figurative bus, called Mokona. But if the entire group was determined to go to Celes to retrieve Sakura's body, everyone would have to pay an extra fee to control the direction to which their journey would go. And Kamui had nothing to offer. What would he pay? What _could_ he pay?

"Kamui." Kamui looked up. It was Mokona speaking to him. The image of Yuuko was gone. "We should get ready to leave now," Mokona said and hopped onto his shoulder.

Kamui frowned. "I have _nothing_ with me," he said. He hoped that the little white bun would hear the emphasis he put into the word 'nothing'.

Mokona smiled. "Oh, then you're ready to go?"

Kamui sighed softly. "We'll see…" he mumbled.

When the group had readied themselves, they reassembled around Mokona. Mokona hopped onto Syaoran's shoulder and made contact with Yuuko, transmitting her face into the open air. "Everyone's ready," the little creature chirped to the image of the Dimensional Witch.

"Then, the four payments…" Yuuko said. "Hand over the prize money for the chess victory."

Hearing this from the Witch, Kamui blinked. Chess? He had not participated into the match…

Mokona voiced Kamui's thoughts before he could properly speak them. "But Mokona didn't take part…" the little bun-creature said.

"You did." Syaoran stared at the little white bun on his shoulder. "You we're with us properly. Because we knew you were waiting, we did our best so that we'd return."

"But I _didn't_." The group turned to stare at Kamui as he spoke. "I only arrived before the final battle. I have _not_ been here properly to wait for you all." Kamui looked up at the Witch. "What will my payment be, Yuuko?"

Silently, Yuuko regarded Kamui with a long intent look. Then she said, "You should not be here, yet you are here. I have not received anything for your travelling, yet the price has been paid."

"What do you mean by that, Witch?" Kurogane demanded.

"It means that someone already paid my price for me to someone else," Kamui explained in Yuuko's place. He gave Yuuko a questioning look. "Who paid for me?"

"And to _whom_ was the payment given?" Kurogane added, suspicion seeping into his voice.

"Those who paid your price are closest to you, yet are furthest removed from you," the Witch offered Kamui cryptically, but he was not fooled by it.

"Those?" he asked, "I have only _one_ person dear to me."

" _Who_ received the price?" Kurogane repeated, determined to get this question answered as well.

Yuuko, however, did not betray any more clues to the fellowship. "Kurogane," she said, "For a payment there must be a service. I have not received Kamui's payment, therefore Kamui cannot use my services. In short, no transaction has occurred between him and I. The service which Kamui receives at this moment comes from the person who has taken the payment. If you wish to know who this person is, then you must as Kamui. It is not up to me to tell you this."

Having said that, Yuuko ignored Kurogane, who desperately wanted to fire another question, in favour of Kamui. "Kamui, it is not up to me to solve your questions," she said, "but know that they will certainly be answered as you set out to find Subaru. That is _inevitable_." Yuuko paused to let the words sink in. She then continued with her following message, the importance of which she stressed by bending forward slightly as she spoke, "Understand, Kamui, that once you leave Celes, you cannot travel further with Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and Mokona. The _first_ price that was paid only allows you to journey past Celes."

"And the second?" Kamui demanded.

"You will cross that bridge once you reach it."

When the team was finally ready to go, Mokona and Fai combined their magic (as Mokona's magic alone was not enough to bring them all the Celes) and opened the trans-dimensional portal.

"Go," they heard Yuuko say. "To Celes country." And then, the portal closed behind them and they were once more travelling on the trans-dimensional paths.

***

Are we there yet?" Syaoran asked, when suddenly another portal opened and a frozen landscape consumed by arctic storms emerged. With a sudden push, they fell out of the portal, but miraculously this time they landed perfectly on their feet. "This is…"

"… Celes." Fai took a few steps forward to stand at the edge of the cliff where they had landed. "Where I was… Castle Ruval."

An enormous castle rose out from the depths before them, dominating the entire landscape.

"Fuuka Shourai!"

With Syaoran's magic, the group was able to go to the castle safely. Once there, they entered the ominous looking castle, but a foreboding feeling made Kamui shiver. Something bad was going to happen, he could sense it.

They stopped in front of a tall pair of doors. The air of oppressiveness that the regal doors exuded made Kamui's stomach twist, but he kept a straight face, like his companions did.

Fai pushed the door open, revealing what was inside.

"Welcome back, Fai."

A sole young man wearing royal robes stood in the middle of the large hall on front of a pool. The raven black hair, long and silky, framed what seemed to be a kind face.

Wondering how the mage would react, Kamui's eyes drifted to his fellow vampire who had averting his gaze. "... I thought I'd be able to not return, if possible, Ashura-ou," said Fai.

"Even though you promised that you'd grant my wish?" Ashura smiled kindly, but his kindness had a chilling air to it. "I've been waiting for you," he continued, while slowly lifting his cloak. "This child... has also been waiting... for you... all the time."

Underneath his cloak, a dehydrated and malnourished child with long blond hair, clothed in rags, and covered in dirt, was revealed. Despite the horrendous appearance, upon closer look, Kamui found that this child resembled someone very closely: he resembled Fai.

Suddenly, flashes of a repressed past appeared in front of Kamui's eyes. A past of twins with blond hair like blessed little angels. But the two young princes were not angels, and were not here to bless their people; no, they were a curse. And as such, they needed to be imprisoned, locked far away, in the above and the below.

This was Fai's past, Kamui realized. Fai had a twin... named Fai? Fai was not Fai. Fai was... Yuui.

"You took the name of this dead child as your own and erased your name from this world. But, even if this is so, your sins cannot be erased," said Ashura-ou, his voice breaking through the flashes of the past, bringing them back to reality. "It's alright, I have shown it to the others who had come with you. Your past."

A shocked Fai whipped his head back, to stare at his companions with a haunted look in his eyes. All of this, however, went by Kamui's mind. The information of Fai's, or rather Yuui's, past shown to him was all that mattered. Kamui knew that this information was what the Dimensional Witch had wanted him to see.

_It is not up to me to solve your questions, but know that they will certainly be answered as you set out to find Subaru. That is_ _**inevitable** _ _._

Those were the Witch's words. Part of the answer should therefore lie in Celes, otherwise the Witch would not have send Kamui to travel with Syaoran's group for only this particular dimension.

The revelation of the mage's past was a past of twins, and Kamui's sorrows were also pertaining his twin. Not only that, Syaoran, too, had a twin of sorts... his clone. Everything involved twins?

Suddenly, Kamui remembered his brother's words, as he was taken away from him by Seishiro.

... _and your true twin is also waiting for you._

The Witch had made a similar allusion.

_**Those** _ _who paid your price are closest to you, yet are furthest removed from you..._

Kamui had said that there was only one person close to him, that person being Subaru, and had asked who the other one was, but the Witch had evaded that question. What if the other person was his 'true twin'?

The thought made Kamui sick in his stomach. Only Subaru was his twin. No one could replace their bond. Even if Seishiro had cruelly separated them, Subaru and he were still of one blood.

It wasn't until Kurogane had drawn his sword, that Kamui was snapped out of his thoughts to see the current happenings.

Fai attacked. The battle between magician and ninja erupted. Fai attacked Kurogane with his spells, but the ninja was too fast to hit. Evading and then moving forward, he neared Fai like a predator, whilst the magician randomly hit with spells, his eyes and mind too unfocused, too far off in his own past, his own world, to really be a threat to the ninja.

The ninja moved in and slammed Fai's head into the ground. "Your past has nothing to do with me," Kurogane growled. "Besides, if what that guy showed us is your past, then it doesn't make sense, does it? If your magic power is something that grows stronger the more you use it, it'd become more difficult for that 'kill people with magic stronger than your own'-curse to work. However, in the past that I just saw, that guy said: _"If this tattoo is traced on your body, further growth of your magic will be restrained until the pattern disappears."_ Why the hell would you restrain it's growth?"

Kurogane whipped his head to face Ashura-ou. "So, get this farce over with! Showing us a past that would this easily come apart, what the heck are you planning?"

Ashura-ou smiled serenely. "I only want you to grant my wish, Fai."

"I can't do it!" Fai cried out. "You... you saved us from that valley! When you first met us, you treated us with kindness. That's why... I can't kill you!"

Ashura-ou nodded. "Very well..." He made a swishing sound and lifted a body from the waters of the pool behind him. "Shall I continue?" he asked, as Sakura's body floated behind him.

***

The fight that ensued to obtain Sakura's body afterwards descended into complete chaos. The mad king, Ashura-ou, easily pushed Syaoran back, he blocked all of Fai's attacks, and he dealt Kurogane a heavy blow that left the ninja severely wounded. Still, perhaps it was a fluke of luck, but in a moment of inattentiveness on Ashura-ou's side Fai managed to get to Sakura; once he got her, he quickly handed her over to Syaoran.

"Take Sakura," he said to the boy, "and..."

"No..." Syaoran protested, "don't..."

But Fai pushed Syaoran's hand away and stood back up to face Ashura-ou. "All I've been is weak!" he told the mad king, "I have never been kindhearted. And it's that very weakness of mine that brought us to this point! Let's end this now, your majesty. Let's fulfill your wish. And fulfill mine as well."

It was clear what Fai desired. He wished to kill Ashura-ou and die alongside with him. But anyone could tell that it was not possible. Even Kamui, whose acquaintance with the group had been only for a very short time and was shallow at best, knew that Fai, in his current state, could never defeat Ashura-ou.

"He needs help..." Kamui whispered to himself.

In that moment, movement beside him caught his eye. Kurogane was weakened, but he still struggled up to stand. "He needs help? He gets it," the ninja stated, and then he charged forward.

His sword plunged into Ashura-ou's chest.

It became Ashura-ou's deathblow. With his last breath, the king smiled and said his goodbye to Fai, "I was hoping that you would kill me, and that would remove the final curse from you, but... with their help you may yet overcome your curse."

When the king died, a feather appeared from the real Fai's body; the memory of the valley fluttered in the air, before it returned into Sakura's being. With Sakura's feather no longer sustaining the child's body, the long-dead twin, finally disintegrated and disappeared, leaving only his brother Yuui, who was now Fai.

It was in that that moment that Fai's second curse was activated; Mokona opened the portal, but -while the world of Celes was closing itself- no one could pass through. Because of Fai's magic, and they were all trapped inside. All but one...

 _"I'm not part of this group,"_ Kamui realized. " _I've never been part of it. The curse doesn't bind me, but I_ _can also not interfere with their fates, the same way they cannot interfere with mine. We are from two separate stories._ _Their journey is not mine; their destiny, not mine. I've only been walking along side them as pedestrians would do, sharing an intersecting path before parting ways once more."_

He waited to see what happened, but the group hardly appeared to even notice him.

Syaoran desperately clutched onto Sakura and Mokona. Fai used his last magic to push them out of the crumbling world to which they were bound, but it wasn't enough, what magic remained in his last eye had been depleted by the fight before, and only Syaoran and Sakura could pass. Mokona then threw in one of its magical earrings, anchoring the world long enough to let Kurogane pass through. But the ninja could not let the mage go; in a last desperate attempt to save Fai, he sacrificed his own arm, cutting it off and leaving it behind in Celes. That arm had been infused with Fai's magic before. It was enough... barely, to allow Fai to pass through.

Kamui watched the group reach their new world in safety. Watanuki had said that these people already knew what dangers they were to face, but Kamui believed now that they would come through in the end, because they were strong and Kamui had faith in them. With those thoughts easing the worries in mind, Kamui silently departed from them, in search of his own destiny.


	6. Cross that bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui crosses every bridge that he can find upon his arrival at Nihon Country.

Kamui remembered what Yuuko had told him then.

_Understand, Kamui, that once you leave Celes, you cannot travel further with Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and Mokona. The first price that was paid only allows you to journey past Celes._

His journey with them was over. But he was not done travelling. A second price had been paid. He remembered what Yuuko said about that as well.

_You will cross that bridge once you reach it._

He wasn't certain what kind of world this was, but Kurogane, upon arrival, seemed eerily at home. It was his gut talking to him, but Kamui was certain that this was the ninja's home world.

Cross that bridge once you reach it...

Was there a bridge here somewhere?

Aimlessly, Kamui wandered around, admiring the cherry blossoms and detailed architecture of Kurogane's home country, while also keeping an eye out for any bridge which would bring him closer to Subaru. As it turned out, there were many bridges in this world, and Kamui crossed them all; still, no matter what bridge he crossed nothing appeared to happen.

The day passed, the night came.

Then, as dawn broke, a voice spoke behind him.

"Oh, you're here too? What a surprise! Admiring Nihon Country's beautiful sunrise?"

He knew that voice! Kamui whipped his head around to the sound of his rival. "Fuuma..."

The man stood on the other side of the bridge which Kamui had crossed. Chuckling, Fuuma said, "If you're looking for my brother, he already left this world."

Kamui glared. "So, _this_ is what I get in return for the second price."

Fuuma blinked. "What? You're disappointed to see me?"

Hissing softly, Kamui walked back over the bridge and stopped in front of Fuuma. He grabbed the other by his collar and pulled him down to eye level, before shooting him a deadly glare. "When Subaru sacrificed his blood for Seishiro back then, I swore not to let it happen again. I will not let Seishiro get away with this. I don't know what you and your brother are plotting, and I don't trust you, but you'll give me back Subaru."

Despite the menace lacing Kamui's every word, Fuuma laughed into his face. "It's nothing so sinister, I swear," he said. "Seishiro told me what he did, but I've got nothing to do with Subaru being taken from you. I did get a message from Yuuko, though, that you were paid to travel along with me. She didn't tell me where to find you, so imagine my surprise to stumble upon you here!"

Kamui narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but then he slowly released Fuuma from his grip, allowing the other to pull back. "The others did not tell you about me having come with them?"

Fuuma raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Never mind."

As Kamui had suspected upon finding out that he and the group did not share the same fate, Syaoran and the others had forgotten him entirely. It was similar to how two pedestrians sharing a path would forget one other upon parting. They had a different mission to embark upon, a different story to tell.

Kamui shook his head softly, sighing. "Where are we going then?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Fuuma replied. "I'm usually informed beforehand what my destination is, but this time I only received this as a clue." He held up a slip of paper.

Frowning, Kamui snatched the piece of paper from from Fuuma's hand. He smoothed out the crinkles from it, and then he could clearly see what was written on it. It was a single large letter: X.


	7. A dead girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui and Fuuma meet a dead girl.

"Let's go," Kamui said. "I don't care what this X means, but I know it will lead me to Subaru; so, bring me to him."

Fuuma clucked his tongue, and smiled. "You changed. You were so selfless before, but now you are so demanding."

"Stop joking and get going!" Kamui growled.

"Right, right. Here we go," Fuuma opened the dimensional portal and stepped through. "Are you coming?" He held out his hand to Kamui. The vampire grasped it, and was pulled into the portal.

The trans-dimensional roads were all around them, flashing brightly and colorfully, but the one they took was dark; so dark, that it surpassed the color of the night. As they were pulled along by mystical forces, which kept them on the right path, the other paths began to disappear from their sight. The blues, the reds, the greens, the yellows; all those colors slowly faded as they journeyed across the road of darkness, until only black surrounded them.

"I've a bad feeling about this," Fuuma commented, and he stopped, resisting the powers that were pulling them towards their destination. He held tightly onto Kamui's hand, almost crushing it in his grasp.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little dark," Kamui jeered. He tried to pull Fuuma along again, but the hunter was adamant and remained standing.

"This isn't about the dark," said Fuuma, "It's what I'm sensing. It's too dark to make out the direction we're going to, and yet I sense that I've known that world before."

Suddenly, there were footsteps behind them. Swiftly, hunter and vampire turned around as one to face their opponent. The footsteps came closer, but it was still too dark to make out the figure.

"Who are you!" Kamui demanded. "Show yourself!"

The footsteps continued, becoming louder as they neared. When the figure finally stepped from the shadows and revealed its form, Kamui could not contain the gasp that escaped him. "S-subaru?"

A blink. "Oh? You know my brother?"

That voice, light like a bell, could not belong to a man. This was not Subaru. This person, who looked like Subaru, was a woman. Kamui had not forgotten Subaru's parting words before Seishiro had cruelly taken his dear twin from him.

_That girl is waiting for me, Kamui... and your true twin is also waiting for you._

Kamui understood now, why Subaru could not be his true twin. Subaru could never be Kamui's twin, because this girl, who looked like Subaru and called him her brother, was already his twin. She was the girl who Subaru said was waiting for him.

"Are you waiting for Subaru?" Kamui said.

"Hmm...?" It was still Subaru's face that was smiling softly in that gentle carefree manner, but the voice which then spoke to Kamui was not his. "Yes," she said, "you could say that I am waiting for him. But I wish to wait a long, long time. I don't want Subaru to die, I want him to grow old."

"Y-you're dead?" Fuuma stuttered.

"Yes," she confirmed, giving a small nod. "I was killed." Her gaze turned inward, almost as if she were recollecting her memories of that moment. "Ah..." she said softly, "I will protect my sweet Subaru with all that I have, but if the man who killed me learns to love, then that spell I cast need not be activated... and the chain of tragedy that haunts my brother's fate will stop."

Kamui frowned. The chain of tragedy...? Why did he feel so much affinity towards these words? There was a relationship between himself and these words, but for the life of him, he could not remember why; it was as if a veil had been placed over his mind, blocking him from thinking clearly.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Kamui took a step forward and held out his free hand in offering. "I don't know about any chain of tragedy," he said, as he gently took hold of the girl's hand, "but I can promise you; I will keep Subaru safe, and when you are finally reunited with him, you can rest assured that he will be old and have lived a long, long time."

"Hey, hey," Fuuma gave Kamui's other hand, which he still hadn't let go of, a small squeeze, "I know you have a brother-complex, and she's a pretty girl who looks like him; but are you sure it's wise to make such promises? What if you can't keep it?"

Kamui ignored the hunter. "My name is Kamui," he told the girl. "Remember it; it's my debt to you, until I fulfill my promise."

The girl smiled. "Thank you so much, Kamui. Then, to show you my gratitude, I will give you my own name: I am Hokuto Sumeragi."

The mystical force pulling Kamui and Fuuma along grew stronger, urging them to move on.

"You should continue your journey," Hokuto said, "I sense that you're merely passing through here on a quest you need to complete."

"Yes." Kamui let go of Hokuto's hand. "Let's go, Fuuma."

With a last wave, the two said their farewell to the girl and let themselves be swept away.


	8. Taboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuuma reveals a secret.

Their surroundings grew lighter and lighter, until finally a portal showed up and they were thrown into a new world.

Kamui let out a pained groan when Fuuma landed on top of him. He tried to push the hunter off, but the man was heavy. "Get. Off," he seethed.

Chuckling, Fuuma appeased the vampire by quickly getting up. He send a few leery smiles to the other while brushing some imaginary dust off of him, and, with hint of smugness, said, "Thank you for breaking my fall, Kamui."

Fuuma's cheeky comment annoyed Kamui to no end. He glared, pulling back a fist in order to punch the hunter, but in that moment he caught sight of something towering behind Fuuma. Fuuma witnessed the transformation in the vampire's attitude with some confusion, as Kamui froze in the middle of his attack and his eyes widened in complete shock.

Fuuma blinked, frowning. What was going on?

"Is... something the matter?" When Kamui still didn't say anything, he decided to turn around to look behind himself. He stopped mid-turn. "It can't be..."

The world in which they had landed consisted of many tall buildings of brick and steel, but the one construction that stood out among these imposing skyscrapers was the red tower lighting up the dark night: Tokyo Tower.

"We're in Tokyo," Kamui breathed.

"No," Fuuma vehemently denied, "we're not."

"But that's the Tower you defended, the same one that contained the water reservoir!"

"Look around you, Kamui!" Fuuma cried. He held out his arms, indicating the scene around him, "Just look! What happened to all the broken buildings? Where is the erosion? If we were in the same Tokyo from the acid rains, this would not all be standing here!"

Fuuma had a point. How could buildings which had been destroyed before still be standing tall? It wasn't possible; what was gone could no longer be returned to its previous state; it was against reality's laws. And yet, Kamui remembered Watanuki's - or rather, Clow Reed's - words clearly in his mind:

"... the past, present and future are blurring at this very moment."

He hadn't realized he'd repeated them, until Fuuma asked him for clarification.

"What do you mean?" the hunter demanded.

Kamui looked at Fuuma, giving the hunter a thoughtful stare before he sighed. "I think we traveled through time," he explained, deciding to trust Fuuma with this bit of information. "We went from the future to the past."

Fuuma frowned. "That shouldn't be possible."

"It shouldn't be, it's against the natural law," Kamui conceded, "but I've experienced it before. I went to the Dimensional Witch's place, only to discover that Yuuko was dead, and another had taken her place. But when this new Witch sent me on to my destination, I arrived at a place _when_ Yuuko was alive."

It was clear from his expression that Fuuma wasn't happy with this revelation, but Kamui was surprised that he accepted it so easily nonetheless. The hunter ran his fingers through his hair, sighing, "It's wrong, but laws have been broken before. These things happen when taboos are committed."

"Taboos?"

Fuuma eyed Kamui for a moment, nodding slowly. "Yes. Taboos. Traveling through time, stopping time, turning back time... taboos breed more taboos... they multiply until they tear down the very fabric of reality."

"Then," Kamui swallowed a lump he felt forming in his throat, "what we did; traveling back here; was it taboo?"

Fuuma nodded again. "Yes. Although it wasn't done consciously, it was a taboo; and the effects will ripple through the fabric of reality."

"How do you know all this?"

"I..." Fuuma hesitated. "I once made a wish that can be considered taboo."

No matter how much Kamui prodded Fuuma for an explanation, the other would not budge; as soon as Fuuma confessed about having once made a taboo wish, he'd clammed shut. At last, Kamui decided to let Fuuma off the hook for the moment; he had more pressing matters to attend to, such as finding Subaru and finally getting some answers.

They silently explored the large city that was at once odd and familiar to them. Where there should be ruins were tall buildings which had yet to melt and crumble. Where air should be sharp and biting, but crisp and clean, it was thick with exhaust fumes gone stale. The stars could no longer be seen in the night because of light pollution. Slowly, the first fat drops of rain began to pour from the sky. Kamui held out a hand, but the touch of the water drops falling on his palm did not bite. The water here was not yet contaminated with acid. Nature had not yet fought back and destroyed civilization.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

Kamui blinked, then frowned. "An earthquake," he stated.

He was surprised when he heard Fuuma swear loudly to his left side. The hunter grabbed him by his arm and began to run, pulling him along with him. "We can't stay here," Fuuma said, a grim mask settling on his face.

"What's going on?" Kamui demanded.

Fuuma shook his head. "It's not safe," he said.

They ran across streets that suddenly tore apart. Buildings around them began to crumble apart, some of them shaping into forms that resembled the ones Kamui recognized from their future counterparts...


	9. Eriol Hiiragizawa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui and Fuuma meet Eriol, who leaves them with some hints.

It was like watching a ghost of the future in the past; and, in a way, that _is_ what Kamui was experiencing.

They ran and ran, until they crashed into another person as they rounded a corner. Falling on his butt, Fuuma pulled Kamui, whom he'd still had firmly in his grasp, down along with him, causing the vampire to fall into an ungraceful heap on top of him.

Kamui silently fumed as he pushed himself from the hunter. What was it with them constantly falling on top of each other? They didn't even have the excuse of disorientation from travelling through dimensions!

He shot Fuuma a dirty look, before settling his attention on the person they had bumped into.

The young man had dark hair and was wearing glasses through which piercing blue eyes were glaring at them. He had currently pushing himself up onto his elbows. "Watch where you're going," he bit out.

Neither Kamui nor Fuuma were intimidated by the man; but, while Kamui let the reprimand glide off of him like water from a raincoat, the latter of the two clearly felt offended. "I suppose you're the epitome of calmness when an earthquake strikes," Fuuma shot back sarcastically.

The man with glasses narrowed his eyes dangerously as he looked both hunter and vampire up and down. Finally, he pulled himself back onto his feet, brushing some dirt off of his clothes, and said, "I'm surprised that you aren't the epitome of calmness, Fuuma, considering that you and your dragons are the cause of this earthquake."

Fuuma stiffened. "Who the hell are you," he quietly demanded.

The young man gave a fake smiled, his eyes forming to small crescents in the process. "At this time I'm still known as Eriol Hiiragizawa," he replied.

"But we will come to know you under another name," Kamui guessed.

"Very astute," Eriol said.

"You're a seer," Fuuma surmised, "that's why you know already that we'll come to know you under that other name in the future."

Eriol inclined his head. "Yes. Your observational skills are clearly not to be trifled with."

"I know a few seers," Fuuma said, "They can be counted on one hand."

"No need for that," Eriol held up his hand. "You should figure this out easily with some hints... Once upon a time, a great mage named Clow Reed had the desire to keep someone dear to him alive, even though it was not meant to be. I am the afterimage of that wish; and it is my goal to surpass Clow Reed by _fulfilling_ the wish. Fulfilling it, however, has some consequences; that's why..." Eriol turned to look Kamui straight in his eyes, then gave him one of the answers he had been looking for since the start of this journey: "I am 'the one who is the cause of your true grief'."

Kamui felt a lump form in his throat. "You are..."

Fuuma growled. "Fei Wong Reed!"

They had found the source of all tragedy: Fei Wong Reed.

"Ding! Ding!" said the seer, an insincere smile firmly plastered on his lips, "that's ten point for the twin stars!"

"Shut up, Hiiragizawa!" Fuuma hissed.

Kamui was uncertain how Eriol Hiiragizawa could agitate Fuuma in this manner, but he knew that the seer had done or said _something_ to bother the hunter, because Fuuma was acting out of his element. Where had that impossible, smooth-talking, and cool-headed man gone?

Two other things mentioned by Eriol was nagging Kamui's mind; one: he mentioned 'twin stars', two: he was called 'Eriol'.

Kamui remembered this name. When he had asked the young Sakura to use her card Loop to bring him to the Dimensional Witch, the creature, Yue, had mentioned that name upon meeting his creator Watanuki.

_Clow! How...! But you died a long time ago! You are reborn as Eriol, aren't you?_

Those had been Yue's words. It aligned with Eriol's own story about being the afterimage of Clow's wish; in a way, Clow himself was reborn as Eriol, because Eriol was the result of Clow's desire to keep Yuuko alive. Kamui made an effort to order his thoughts. If Eriol, who was standing before them, had been reborn from Clow, or rather Watanuki, who was the successor to Yuuko, then that meant Kamui and Fuuma had traveled to the future.

But Kamui could tell that this world, X, was clearly the past of Tokyo, where the acid rain fell. From that perspective, Kamui and Fuuma had traveled to the past.

Things weren't adding up... They had simultaneously traveled to both the past and the future. That shouldn't be possible, unless...!

Fuuma's warnings flashed though Kamui's head. They had traveled through time, broken a taboo. The effects would ripple through the fabrics of reality and tear it apart.

Kamui clenched his fist.

All this for his twin Subaru.

But Subaru was not his true twin, the presence of the girl Hokuto had made that very clear. Kamui had thus far deducted that his sorrows pertained 'twins'. Now, this seer was speaking of twin stars. What did Eriol mean by that? Kamui needed to find out.

"What do you mean by 'twin stars'?" he demanded.

Eriol turned to look at Kamui. "I see. You no longer know. Well, you will find out soon; that is -inevitable- ...is what _she_ would have said, isn't that so?"

Kamui narrowed his eyes. Yuuko had indeed say that. "What do you mean, I no longer know?"

"Why don't you ask your partner? It's his fault you don't remember," Eriol said. "Ah," he slapped his forehead in a dramatic gesture, "I forgot! He can't remember it either; that was the price he paid!"

Kamui turned to the hunter, who was both angry and confused. "Fuuma?" he prodded the other.

Fuuma glanced at him, then shook his head. "I know he's talking about the taboo I broke with my wish. But I don't know what he's saying, I..." he hesitated, "I don't... remember what wish I made."

Kamui gave him a hard glare. "You stole my memories for your wish? You bargained both our memories and broke taboos just to make a foolish wish you don't even remember?"

"It was _not_ a foolish wish!" Fuuma snapped, glaring right back. "It was important; I can sense that it was very important," he averted his gaze, and softly added, "... to me, at least."

Eriol chuckled. "I see; the body remembers, even when the heart does not. I admire what you've accomplished, Fuuma." He then turned his malicious gaze to Kamui, smiling all the way, as he stared at him with ill intent. "I think I should take note and improve."

"There is nothing to improve!" Kamui yelled.

To this, Eriol inclined his head. "I agree. Were I author of this story, then our worlds would never have collided at all. But the fates are not written by me. I was thrown into this mess, and so I must work with what I have."

"You don't have to do this; you can stop," Kamui pointed out.

"Is that what you want?" Eriol asked. "To have no resolution at all?"

Kamui opened his mouth, but then he hesitated. No resolution meant never finding Subaru. Never finding the answers to the questions he had. Could he give everything up? No, he couldn't. How could Kamui ask of Eriol to give up his wish, when Kamui could not give up his own?

"I want a resolution," Fuuma said in Kamui's stead, "but as you said, Hiiragizawa, the fates aren't written by us. I can't change destiny; what must come, will come; that is inevitable."

Eriol smirked. "Whether you can or can't, one thing is for certain; you will find the answer. The two of you will."

"Are you talking about inevitability again? Is that why you're so certain we will find the answer?" Kamui demanded.

Eriol let out a loud sigh and raised his hands towards the night sky dramatically. "Why does everyone speak of inevitability! Who decides what's inevitable!"

"Inevitability comes from the law of consequences; they're not decided by one person," said Fuuma. "Set in stone, it's one of the pillars of reality that cannot be changed."

Eriol peered at Fuuma through narrowed eyes. "You mean the same way laws that state the dead cannot live again?" he carefully asked, lowering his arms. Before Fuuma could answer that question, he held up a hand, and interrupted him, "You're wrong, though; the dead _do_ live once more, and the laws of reality _can_ be bend by a single person's wish."

"It's wrong," said Kamui. "It's taboo."

"Of course you would say that," Eriol rolled his eyes towards the sky, "I guess the role of 'the one who represents the authority of God' is imprinted into your _soul,_ " Kamui frowned at those words, but Eriol was already continuing, chuckling all the way, "but that only makes your decision to grant _his_ wish-" his gaze strayed towards Fuuma, "-all the more ironic."

Fuuma's expression pinched. "My wish?" he reiterated.

Eriol nodded slyly. "Yes, your wish; the one that breaks all laws of reality. But then again, it fits you, _hunter_. All those fools go on and on about inevitability... but I have great faith that you'll surpass your destiny, Fuuma."

Suddenly the ground began to shake again.

"Ah, that's my cue to leave," said Eriol. He held up his forefinger. "One last thing; this concerns the items you must retrieve in this world for the Dimensional Witch, hunter. You must collect them from 'the one who represents the authority of God being favored by God his will and power to protect the world' and 'the one who hunts the authority of God being favored by God his will and power to destroy the world'."

Another shake from the ground as buildings crumbled around them. Eriol frowned. "You two should go as well, these earthquakes are rather dangerous." He waved once. "Goodbye, Kamui." He waved again. "And goodbye, Kamui." And then he ran off and disappeared behind a collapsing wall.

Kamui turned to give Fuuma a hard look. "All those things he said-" he began, but Fuuma interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.

"No, I don't understand what it all meant," Fuuma answered the unspoken question. "I know he's hinting at things, but the message is too cryptic for me to figure out." He clenched his fist, then took hold of Kamui's hand and pulled him along again. "But one thing I did get;" he said as they fled the earthquake disaster together, "he said to me that one of the items I had to retrieve comes from 'the one who represents the authority of God being favored by God his will and power to protect the world';" he gave the vampire a sideways glance, "and he said to you: the role of 'the one who represents the authority of God' is imprinted into your soul."

Kamui's eyes widened as understanding dawned on him.

"There are people in different worlds who may share the same soul. One of the items that must be retrieved has to be with the Kamui from this world."


	10. Two kinds of inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui and Fuuma discuss the philosophical implications of inevitability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter discusses 'sadame' (loosely translated as determinism) that is prevalent in X/1999 and 'hitsuzen' (loosely translated as causality) that is prevalent in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.

Hand in hand, Kamui and Fuuma were running, dodging collapsing walls and splintering glass left and right, fleeing the disaster scene together with everyone else in the area. Some people disappeared in between the cracks that tore through the streets. Others were buried underneath the falling debris. A stray dog got pierced through by a wayward steel pipe.

Kamui averted his eyes from the deaths occurring around him. He did not have the power to stop this from happening. "Do you even know where to go?" he asked his companion. "How we can find the Kamui of this world?"

Fuuma gritted his teeth. "Not really," he admitted, "but if I am to believe the Dimensional Witch's philosophy, then the Kamui of this world will surely be there, wherever we're headed."

"Because it's inevitable," Kamui noted wryly.

"Yes. It's a case of causality. I'm guessing the Kamui of this world made a wish. The effect of that wish is that we're sent here to retrieve the payment for that wish. The Dimensional Witch's powers are guiding us to be where we should be."

Kamui grunted. He turned to look behind him where the Tokyo Tower was still proudly erected above the crumbling city. He gave it a thoughtful glance, then directed his gaze back to Fuuma. "Do you believe in destiny?" he asked.

"Destiny?" Fuuma echoed. "Why do you ask?

"We've been speaking of inevitability for a while now without distinguishing the two forms that exist within the philosophical context. One of the forms is _sadame_ : fate and destiny belong to determinism; an outer force, namely fate, predetermines all actions leading man to his inevitable destiny. This form of inevitability excludes man's free will. Contrast with _hitsuzen_ : causality is all about cause and effect; it implies man's free will to choose, but those choices bear inevitable consequences."

"So, you're asking me if free will exists?"

Kamui inclined his head. "Are we here by our own choice or were we guided by the invisible hand of fate?"

"If there is no choice, then what is the purpose of the Dimensional Witch? The Witch grants wishes and wishes exist only by man's free will." Fuuma frowned. "I cannot believe there's no free will. I chose to be hunter. I chose to travel across dimensions."

"Did you really?" Kamui asked. "Or were your choices already laid down to you by an outside force?"

"You mean, am I a puppet; are my choices and actions controlled without my even knowing."

Fuuma scoffed as if the very notion was ridiculous, but Kamui could tell by his rigid shoulders that doubt was building in him.

"You said you don't know which way is to this world's Kamui, but have you noticed where we're headed?" Kamui said.

Fuuma frowned. He looked around, then turned back to face Kamui with a raised eyebrow. "I've no idea what you're talking about, dear."

For some reason Fuuma's casual use of the endearment sent a strange tingling down Kamui's spine, and Kamui became quite angry with himself for this odd reaction, but he forced himself not to let it show. Instead he shot the hunter an annoyed look, and said, "You'd know if these buildings were no longer standing because of the acid rain's erosion." Then, unwilling to wait for Fuuma to figure it out himself, revealed, "This is the way to the Government Building."

Fuuma's reaction upon hearing the revelation was one of shock. He stopped in his tracks, pulling Kamui to a standstill with him. "How is that...?" he breathed in disbelief.

Kamui shrugged. "Fate, I suppose. Someone who shares my soul is at the same place where I was, or rather, where I _will_ _be_ ; it sounds like one of those ironic twists that only happen in stories."

"If this were a story, then the author is cruel," said Fuuma, "for putting us through these trials."

"It isn't cruel, if at the end of the story, good prevails and is rewarded. Crueler would be to let evil win."

"Hmm..." Fuuma said in agreement, "that's true. Though I find a story without ending to be even more cruel. All those unanswered questions... and that's why I can't accept destiny. I decide my own course; my own ending. With my own free will." He narrowed his eyes to give Kamui a sharp look.

Kamui lifted his chin up, meeting the unspoken challenge. "Then show me. Let's play a game, you and I. Prove to me that you can choose your own path; that destiny is in your own hands. If you can do that, I'll surrender to you."

Fuuma smirked. "Surrender? You? Count me in."

"Good." Kamui lowered his gaze to the ground. "Because I want you to win."

Fuuma eyed Kamui for a silent moment. Then he pulled the vampire into the direction from which they came. "If I represent free will, then we're going to the Tower. That's my choice."


	11. Twin star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamui and Fuuma come across a murderer, and learn how to make the dead live again.

Upon arriving at Tokyo Tower, Kamui pulled to a stop. "I smell blood."

"There's blood everywhere," Fuuma pointed out dryly. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of a disaster site."

Kamui shot the hunter a dirty look. "I meant blood of a specific person," he grumbled. He lifted his nose in the air to test the scent one more time. "Someone familiar."

"But there's no one we know in this world," said Fuuma. He paused, then quietly amended, "At least, not yet. The acid rains haven't fallen yet."

"It's... my blood."

Fuuma blinked. "Yours?" he blurted.

"Not quite, but..." Kamui shook his head, "yes?"

Fuuma raised an eyebrow. "Yes or no?"

Kamui's uncertainty was startling, his sharp senses usually weren't to be doubted.

"I don't know." Kamui opened his mouth to taste the wind on his tongue. "It's definitely like mine, but there's a subtle difference to it."

"Maybe it's blood from the Kamui of this world," Fuuma surmised. "If our body is the house of our soul, then it follows that someone sharing our soul should have a similar body type to suit the soul's taste in housing. This world's Kamui shares your soul, so his body should be similar enough that the scent of his blood is like yours. But we should take into account that he's likely not a vampire, because from what I've gathered while traveling around is that vampires are extremely rare occurrences across the worlds. This may explain the difference in scent. I think we should hurry up and get there; he may be wounded."

At that point, Kamui's eyes began to glow. "He may be _dead_ ," the vampire growled, as he looked up. "I can taste it in the air: two bodies; can't have been dead for very long, they're not completely cold yet, somewhere on that tower."

" _Two_ bodies?" Fuuma frowned. "Who's the other?"

Kamui wrinkled his nose. "You. I mean... the one who shares your soul in this world. I can smell blood that is exactly like yours, but _you_ aren't wounded."

Fuuma cursed softly. He pulled Kamui along with him as he leaped up, ascending across the many steel bars that make up Tokyo Tower. Near the top, they found the two bodies, laid out neatly opposite each other.

Kamui gasped softly. "S-subaru...?" he whispered.

One of the bodies, whose neck had been turned into a most awkward angle, sported the face of Subaru. The body sported no open wounds. The other was covered in blood, a sword still embedded into his stomach, and looked like Kamui himself. Neither body resembled Fuuma.

"We're too late," Fuuma said.

"Actually, you're just in time," a voice that sounded exactly like his, spoke from above them.

Hunter and vampire looked up as one to find the face of a murderer staring back at them. It was Fuuma; or rather, the one who shared Fuuma's soul in this world. He was covered in blood, most of it from the boy who shared Kamui's soul, but here and there were shallow cuts littered across his arms and body, as if he had just come out of a sword fight. That must have been the reason Kamui had smelled blood that was like Fuuma's.

The murderer sent them a sinister smile, but it was Fuuma's face, Fuuma who was smiling. Then, the doppelganger dropped down from the higher level, to face them on even ground. "Let me introduce myself," he said, and gave them a short bow. "I am... Kamui."

" _You're_ Kamui?" Fuuma said, disbelief and suspicion written clearly across his face.

The doppelganger smirked, but it was a hollow expression. "Two fates. Two destinies. Two meanings of a single name. Kamui: the first explanation is 'the one who represents the authority of God being favored by God his will and power to protect the world'; but the name has also been read as 'the one who hunts the authority of God being favored by God his will and power to destroy the world'." The doppelganger looked at the blood-covered body of the boy who resembled Kamui. "He was my best friend," he said of his victim, "I realized that I loved him, but I was his twin star."

Kamui froze. Twin star... _twins_. "W-what did you just say?" he stuttered.

The murderer looked him in the eye, and repeated, "I was his twin star." He jumped across the gap that separated them, landing in front of the vampire, and grabbed his chin with thumb and forefinger. "I love you," he said, tilting up Kamui's chin, "but I was destined to kill the one I love."

"Let him go!" Fuuma reached out with his fist, but his attack was dodged as the doppelganger quickly jumped back.

"The Witch sure loves irony," the doppelganger commented, "to send you two to fulfill my wish and retrieve the payment."

Fuuma growled. "You were the one who made a wish?"

"Yes."

"What did you wish?" Kamui asked.

The doppelganger smiled. "To defy destiny," he replied.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Fuuma demanded.

"It means I brought a vampire here to bring back the dead."

Kamui remembered what Yuuko had said. _Those who paid your price are closest to you, yet are furthest removed from you._ Kamui blinked as realization crashed down on him. This person in front of him, who called himself Kamui, who was the twin star of the person who shared Kamui's soul, was one of the two who had paid the price for Kamui's journey. The realization was unsettling, but Kamui put on his bravest face to confront reality.

"Bringing back the dead is taboo," Kamui said. "But an exchange of wish and payment cannot be ignored. I came because you wished it so. What price will you pay for this service?"

The doppelganger stared him dead in the eyes. "My relationship... with you Kamui."

Suddenly, Fuuma dropped to his knees. "Argh, this is... I can't!" He grabbed his head in his two hands, panting. "It hurts..."

The doppelganger snorted. "You can't remember, fool," he said to Fuuma, "When a relationship is paid as price, it means that memories are being sacrificed.

In that moment, Kamui's head also began to hurt. He squeezed his eyes shut to block out the doppelganger's attacks, but the words kept pouring from those lips.

"The specific memories I will sacrifice in this case are those of your past with Kamui, Fuuma; and Kamui's memories of his past with you - or rather, me. I predict that when our relationship is gone, another relationship will emerge as substitution for it; likely both Kamui and I will be given another to be our friend, brother, or twin; such is how reality tries to fill these unnaturally created voids."

Through the pressure in his own head, Kamui heard Fuuma hissing out soft curses. Then, the pressure was gone, and something that felt like a strange veil was pulled back up in his mind. When Kamui opened his eyes again, Fuuma's curses had stopped.

The hunter was standing back up, glaring at his doppelganger. "What just happened?" he demanded. "What did you just do to us? Why can't I remember what you just said?"

Kamui himself could not remember either.

***

The sounds of a large city in chaos echoed around them, but they paid it no heed, too wrapped up in their own conversation as they were.

"You don't need to know what I just said." The doppelganger looked to Fuuma. "You only need to know this: this world will not remain has it is. When the last earthquake wipes out this civilization with its destructive force, an acid rain will come to cleanse the world of all its rubble. You need to take my payment and leave this world before that happens."

"And you?" Fuuma asked. "What will you do?"

"I'll leave before you do," the doppelganger said. "I can't remain in one place, that's the price for the sin brought forth by my wish." The doppelganger then turned his gaze towards the vampire. "It's worth it, though. Every sin is worth bringing the one I love back to life, because the alternative is just... unbearable."

"Why did you kill him?" Kamui asked. "If he was your best friend and you love him so much, then why? You speak as if fate had taken control over your very body, using your hand to plunge that sword into his body without your consent.

The doppelganger smiled emptily. "I didn't have a choice. The choice to protect or destroy was given to him, and I was delegated to be his opposite. Though I _knew_ what I was doing, I couldn't _feel_ it. The part of me that cared was... suppressed; and another, much more ugly part of me took control."

"Are you saying that you aren't to blame for your best friend's death?" Kamui demanded.

"You meant to ask: do I not have free will in this? The truth is, that I don't know. Yes, I was the one who murdered him; I'll own up to that responsibility. But a part of me didn't want it. That part of me was suppressed, and I couldn't reach it, not until I'd ran him through with that accursed sword. When I killed him, the part of me that was held back came back to me, and I realized how much he meant to me."

The doppelganger gave Kamui a determined look. " That's why I'm gonna fix this. When I have broken the ultimate taboo, brought the dead back to life, and destroyed reality's foundation... that's when I will have proof of my free will. That's when I will truly have surpassed my destiny."

Kamui felt his heart constrict at that bold declaration. "I said today that I wanted Fuuma to win," he confessed, "I want free will to prevail, because the other option is to be at the whim and mercy of something out of my control; and wouldn't that be sad? So," he took a deep sigh, then decided, "I will help you bring back your loved one," his gaze strayed towards the body of Subaru's lookalike, "and keep my promise towards that girl I met."

He started towards the two bodies, but Fuuma held him back by his arm. "Kamui, are you sure?" the hunter asked.

Kamui gave him a pensive look, before nodding. "I don't know why, Fuuma," he said softly, "I feel like I have gaps in my memory preventing me from understanding the full truth, but... I think this was _already_ done." He frowned, turning his attention back to Fuuma's doppelganger. "I have a theory; I could be right, I could be wrong; but this must be my past, am I right?"

The doppelganger lifted an eyebrow. "You're right," he said, "but how? You can't know this through your memories. You don't have those memories."

"I don't need memories to know," Kamui sneered. "It can be deduced from the evidence. Subaru was my twin, but he told me he could no longer be my brother, because my _true_ twin was waiting for me. The Witch told me that _those_ closest to me have paid for my journey. I had no one closer to me than Subaru, so if there were two people close to me, they must be Subaru and that 'true twin' of mine. You told me you paid for a vampire to come here to save your best friend who shares my soul. That means you paid for me to come here. You call your best friend your _twin_ star. That can't be coincidence. That boy shares my soul, he _is_ me. You are my 'true twin'."

Kamui pulled himself free from Fuuma's grasp. He held up a hand and cut through his skin with his sharp fingernail, letting his blood flow free. "Subaru and I did live for a long time, because of our immortal blood. I promised a girl named Hokuto that I would keep her brother Subaru safe, and return him to her once he'd grown old and lived a long, long life. If I were to give my immortal blood to this Subaru, and this Kamui," he indicated the bodies, lying motionless beside them, "they will be birthed from the same blood; and in that way, will they not, from a certain point of view, be twins?"

When the two Fuuma's remained silent, Kamui stepped forward towards the two bodies. He first forced Subaru's mouth apart, letting a few drops of his blood fall into Subaru's mouth. Then he went to his past self and did the same for the boy.

"I was told that Fei Wong Reed is the true cause of my grief," Kamui said as the blood dripped from his wound, "but I know now that this is incorrect. Fei Wong Reed learned from _us_. We broke the first taboo. We are the cause of our own grief."

The wound on his hand closed quickly.

"It's done."

The doppelganger smiled. "Thank you. Now, as for my payment..."

Fuuma fumbled around in his pockets until he retrieved a small crystal ball. "The payment should be extracted with this. Just put your hand on it."

The doppelganger inclined his head and obeyed. He took the still unconscious Kamui's hand and placed it on the ball, then placed his own hand over the newly made vampire's. The crystal ball flashed blindingly, and suddenly, a magical circle appeared underneath them, glowing with a bright blue light. Energy hummed all around them.

Then, without warning, a dimensional portal opened, swallowing the doppelganger and the newly created twin vampires. Before Kamui could run after them, the portal closed in a swirl of magic.

The energy enveloping them was absorbed into the crystal ball, which continued the glow softly, now a muted pink. When the last of the energy was gone, the ball fell, descending from Tokyo Tower at an alarming speed.

Fuuma cursed and jumped after the ball. Kamui quickly followed the hunter. In the last second before they hit the ground, Fuuma caught the crystal ball and summoned a dimensional portal of his own. He and Kamui fell into the opening, disappearing from Tokyo once more.

When they finally arrived at their next destination, it was at the Dimensional Witch's shop.


	12. Endless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories are returned in exchange for a cruel fate.

"Ow..." Kamui cursed softly.

"Be glad that you're on top this time," Fuuma said with a muffled voice, his face pressed awkwardly against Kamui's hair.

Kamui blushed and quickly scrambled onto his feet.

Fuuma chuckled. "You're cute when you're shy," he teased, then ducked when Kamui threw him a punch.

"Please behave, gentlemen, you're scaring off potential clients," a voice called out. They looked up to find the Dimensional Witch peering down at them through half-moon glasses; Watanuki gave them a gentle smile. "Welcome back, you two."

Fuuma looked the boy up and down, "You... seem different."

Kamui snorted softly. "That's because he dresses differently. He's no longer wearing his dull school uniform, but instead a tailored kimono. And he's smoking a pipe. He would never have done that before Yuuko's disappearance."

"Disappearance?!"

Fuuma gave Watanuki an alarmed look, but Watanuki merely smiled sadly. "Yuuko Ichihara hasn't been among us for a long time," he let the hunter know.

"So, we traveled through time again?" Kamui tentatively concluded.

Watanuki sighed. "Do you want to know the truth? The full truth: without any distortions from forgotten memories and the like."

Kamui looked to Fuuma, who shrugged helplessly. "I want to know, but it's not in my right to decide; I was the one who sacrificed our memories in the first place."

Kamui nodded, conveying his understanding to Fuuma and his acceptance of the underlying offer of apology, before turning his attention back to Watanuki. "I assume there is a price. What do Fuuma and I have to pay?" Kamui demanded.

"Your price will be your reunion with Subaru, Kamui; you can never see him again." Watanuki directed his attention from vampire to hunter. "As for you, Fuuma, you will return your ability to travel through dimensions; you won't ever leave this place again."

Kamui considered this for a moment. Seishiro had taken Subaru from him. He'd taken the Subaru and returned him to Hokuto. That girl was nice. Subaru would undoubtedly be happy to finally be reunited with her. He would be alright with her looking out for him.

"It's alright. Even though, I want to see Subaru, I know he'll be fine without me. So, it's alright if I pay this price."

"I'm okay with this too," Fuuma added, all the while grinning. "I think I've traveled enough for a lifetime."

"Very well."

Watanuki swished his pipe around, leaving twirling patterns of fragrant smoke. The patterns formed words which Kamui did not recognize. An incantation, Kamui realized; and, though he didn't know its meaning, he knew it was done to retrieve the payment for his and Fuuma's wish to know the truth.

Afterwards, Watanuki stretched out his arm, hand open with his palm facing up. "The payment you retrieved, please," he said to Fuuma.

Fuuma retrieved the crystal ball from his pocket and handed the sphere over to Watanuki.

"The journey has ended. It's time that these memories return to their rightful owners."

Watanuki brought the sphere to his lips and gently kissed it, causing the soft pink glow to expand until it blinded everything. Then the colors within the light broke down and separated, making one half black and one half white, but at the center of each half a pink core remained. Two equal opposites formed one complimenting whole: yin and yang. The two parted and the white half went into Kamui's being. The dark half was absorbed by Fuuma.

It felt warm.

Kamui blinked his eyes. Fuuma took a deep breath.

Watanuki smiled. "You remember now, don't you?"

"Yes," said Kamui, "I remember."

Things were so much clearer now that Kamui's memories were returned. He remembered everything, and things that he hadn't understood before were becoming obvious.

Things such Subaru's wish, and the reason he had saved Seishiro with his immortal blood.

When he and Subaru had first awakened at the Dimensional Witch's shop, Subaru had told the Witch that he wanted to end the chains of tragedy. The Dimensional Witch had granted that wish by giving them the power to travel through the dimensions, and she had imparted that they would know what to do with this power.

Subaru had indeed known exactly what to do. Without hesitation he'd decided that they would travel to Tokyo, knowing fully well that they would be going back to the past, to that very moment when Subaru had killed Seishiro; and Kamui, never doubtful of his brother's decisions, went along with it easily, despite not knowing of Subaru's true intentions. In the end, Subaru had given his immortal blood to save Seishiro from death, and that had set off the start of their long journey to flee the hunter.

It occurred to Kamui that Subaru had always known that the two of them were not true twins; he had remained quiet about it, but he had never lost his memories of his life prior to becoming a vampire. Likely, Seishiro had also known that Fuuma was not his true brother, but had gone along with his role despite this knowledge for the sake of not further upsetting reality's imbalance.

"Watanuki, the ones who paid my price... they are Fuuma and Subaru, right?"

"Yes, Kamui, they are," Watanuki confirmed.

It was as Kamui had thought then: Fuuma had paid for Kamui to return to Tokyo to revive both Subaru and his past self as vampire's; Subaru had paid for his reunion with Fuuma, because he did not want Kamui and Fuuma to be separated as he and Seishiro had, he had paid to end the chains of tragedy.

"You may want to know," said Watanuki, "that those who'd traveled with you, Syaoran and the others, they have successfully defeated Fei Wong Reed."

"So, everything is normal again?"

Watanuki laughed at that question. "Normal you say! Let me ask you: is it normal when you travel simultaneously into both future and past?"

Kamui felt a cold chill run through his heart. "You knew?"

"Of course I know," Watanuki shook his head at the foolishness of the question, "I'm the successor to Yuuko Ichihara. I can see what happens, what will happen, and what has already happened."

"Then explain to me how such an unnatural thing can happen!" Kamui demanded.

Watanuki held up his hand, asking for calmness. "Something like this can only _be_ in one case scenario," he said. "When future is past, and past is future, something like this can happen."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean," growled Fuuma, who had been silent up until now.

"It means that you have traveled through a time loop," Watanuki revealed.

"WHAT!"

"It's stable," Watanuki added, "at least, as far as I can tell."

"That's... your answer?" Kamui said. "That's the truth you wish to tell us?"

"You already know the answer to those questions... with your memories being restored, and all..."

"If we are inside a time loop, then doesn't that mean we're trapped?" Fuuma surmised.

"Yes."

"Then how do we break out?"

Watanuki sighed, shaking his head. "That's not possible, I'm afraid."

"I don't believe that!" Fuuma felt the anger bubbling inside him. He balled his hands into fists, and declared, "I decide my own faith!"

"But you don't." Fuuma was about to make a retort, when Watanuki interrupted, "I will explain this the easiest way I can." He stood up and opened a window. "Doumeki, can you come here for a sec!" he called out.

It took but a moment, but then Doumeki was climbing through the open window into the shop.

"You could have gone through the door," Watanuki grumbled.

"You wanted me here. Stop complaining," Doumeki riposted.

Watanuki rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Can you show the egg, please?"

Doumeki narrowed his eyes. "That egg?"

Watanuki nodded. "Yes, _that_ egg."

Doumeki blinked, then wordlessly did as he was told. The egg he revealed appeared plain, neither Kamui nor Fuuma could discern anything special about it, yet it appeared to be special and treasured, like an old heirloom.

"Can you tell us about the egg, Doumeki?"

Doumeki slowly nodded, uncertain where Watanuki wanted to go with this request. "This egg is an heirloom," he began. "It was given to my ancestor Shizuka Doumeki by the Witch Yuuko Ichihara. She told him to use it in an important decision, but... I don't think he ever did... at least, it doesn't appear as if this egg has ever been used."

Watanuki smiled. "To a chick an egg is its entire world," he explained. "Fuuma. Kamui. You are the chick; and this egg symbolizes your world."

A heavy feeling set inside Kamui's stomach.

"What... are you talking about?" Fuuma dreadfully asked.

"It means that you're forever trapped, never to see the end, because no decision has been made on it," Watanuki replied. When he realized that neither Kamui nor Fuuma understood this explanation, he continued, "Visualize this world as a story created by an author. The author created a splendid world with magic, adventure, love and friendship, but eventually lost interest in it. That's what happened to this egg, and that's what happened to your story, my friends. Shizuka lost interest in this egg and left it to what it was; so did the author lose interest in your story, abandoning you to this destiny."

It was obvious when the information had finally sunk in, because the moment it did, the twin stars' complexion paled, turning to ash.

"So... this is it?" Kamui asked. "We have no ending?"

Watanuki nodded. "I'm afraid so."

When Watanuki gave them this in answer, both Fuuma and Kamui sagged to the ground and wept in defeat; for the author who dealt them this fate was cruel indeed.

THE END...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this story, then consider visiting [my website](https://sonnygoten.wordpress.com/about/) for more.


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